wordless wednesday: i guess i like daisies

new flower bib necklace
... floral-inspired pieces


fine silver flower ring


ceramic flower pendant

resistance is futile

fine silver charm with ocean jasper tablet

I just couldn't resist it! The cute little whale pendant from the new 'life's a beach' range inspired me to revamp a favourite piece of my own. I added a simple ocean jasper square tablet to this fine silver etched charm. The charm, which was my first prototype for etching a depression into art clay silver greenware, was one of my 'go to' pieces of everyday jewelry. It has a letter stamped on the other side - the Wee Guy's first initial.

I think I'll be making some more of these ....... :)

maple leaves and more ...

fine silver maple leaves, handcast locally from the real thing!

Just a quick plug for Coquitlam's Canada Day celebrations where I'll be taking part in the artisan market. I'll have some of these gorgeous fine silver cast maple leaf pendants available (limited stock) as well as some really fun summery wire crochet cuffs for your enjoyment.

Last year's event was an amazing celebration of all things Canada, with Bobs and Lolo on stage for the little people and all sorts of other reasons to appreciate being Canadian. I'm taking part in the artisan market, showcasing work by local artists so please do drop by and say 'howdy' this Thursday!

fibre friday: mermaid

silver and blue multi-strand mermaid necklace detail

Not the usual fibre-ful Friday post but I promise you there is some of the stuff in this piece.

There have been many mermaid necklaces, all of them featuring a tangle of strands and metalwork and most of them asymmetric. This one, the silver with blue, is a little different in that all the strands are hanging from a length of organza ribbon (see, I told you there would be some fibre involved!). Each strand features a different jewelry-making technique; chainmaille, wire crochet, bead wire, chain and so on.

What's more is that each of the strands can be unclipped from the main assembly and worn separately or in any combination you choose. A truly versatile necklace I believe.

from the "life's a beach" jewelry collection

life's a beach: the charm bracelet

fine silver jellyfish charm

Continuing the "life's a beach" theme with a wire crochet bracelet. It would, I think, be difficult to visit an ocean-inspired theme without including wire crochet as it captures the 'tangled in the nets' visualisation of beachcombing exactly.


glass fish forever trapped in the mesh

 The bracelet comprises four strands of argentium sterling silver wire in a simple chain stitch strung with freshwater pearls, vintage mother-of-pearl buttons. moonstone and crystal chips, and shell heishis. A small glass fish is 'trapped' in the mesh.


charm etching in progress on art clay silver tiles

Small handmade fine silver charms dangle in between the beads and the strands are wired together into fused argentium hoops.


tiny fine silver charms: shell, jellyfish and whale

 The hoops were handforged, fused closed then hammered to texturise them. They also mean that the bracelet will fit a wider range of sizes as the clasp will hook onto any of the loops.

wordless wednesday: life's a beach

handcrafted jewelry from the "life's a beach" collection

life's a beach: having a whale of a time

The "life's a beach" collection is complete ...... well, there will probably be more pieces in the pipeline over the summer but I've finished enough for the gallery exhibit coming up.

Today's piece however, isn't destined for the display but did come out of the messing about with art clay sessions preceding inspiration. It's a tiny art clay fine silver charm with a happy little whale etched into its surface (which is damned difficult to photograph), dangling beside a gorgeous tablet of ocean jasper (quite appropriately IMO), a variety of orbicular jasper mined only off the northeast shores of Madagscar. (birthstone month = January, associated with the zodiac signs of aquarius and leo, said to have a calming and healing effect on the emotions as well as guarding against venomous spider and snake bites ... phew!).

The perfect summer easy-to-wear necklace - I'll be completing it with a sterling silver snake chain soon.

life's a beach pendant

life's a beach pendant, originally uploaded by ebbandflo_pomomama.

Putting the finishing touches to a new line of jewelry here at pomo mama design headquarters (OK, it's the spare bedroom in reality).

The pieces are all ocean-inspired (rather than garden inspired for a change!) and feature art clay silver metal charms.

In this piece a fine silver shell, moulded from a real (scottish) cockle shell, hangs beneath a drilled shard of scottish sea glass. In a new step, all the findings are handcrafted from argentium sterling silver, the new tarnish-resist alloy of the precious metal.

You won't be finding this particular piece online, it's destined with the rest of the collection for a gallery exhibit locally, so stay tuned.

fibre friday: custom work

wire and fibre pendant: flower

Summer isn't really the season for making much in the way of felted fibre pieces but this one is an exception. It was a custom commission from the beginning of May and is, so far, unclaimed.
It's a tinned copper wire base with embroidered and felted merino roving. The centre is a new technique - I've needle felted a pale blue 'bud' holding in a strand of white synthetic yarn.
The whole piece was wet felted to stabilise and is now ready for its new home.
Come down and say "Hi" at the Car Free festival on Main this Sunday (see the 'where to shop' tab at the top of this page for details).

PS: there are some other wire and fibre pendants available here :)

dry period

the mess of creativity - an untidy desk usually = lots of ideas flowing

I hate wasting time. I don't have much of it in a week seeing as I'm running The Business 'in, around and in spite of the family' - precious hours should be maximised and not squandered playing pacman or on household admin or on sitting twiddling the digits wondering what to do next.

Usually I'm so busy that there's always something to do. This week is no exception as I'm only days away from one one craft fair and two and half weeks away from the next (see the where to shop tab above for details, she says cheekily) ....... but inspiration is just not there. I have a deadline for a gallery submission, ahem! I have a deadline for a gallery submission which is earlier than I remembered (duh) ..... and that has put a block on my inspiration. One project failed and the other just said 'meh' to me as I checked it out in my notebook.


...... until today that is! Voila! Today I played with art clay silver and Got Inspired (stay tuned).
Phew!


art clay silver tiles - etched and ready to go

Wordless Wednesday: it's almost Father's Day

A little too late for shipping from my online stores but pssst! there are a couple of pairs available locally!

 

Blim Community Market and the Main Street Car-Free Festival

Come and celebrate Father's Day with a car-free stroll down Main Street!
I will be taking part again this year, but this time set up around E17th Ave as part of the Blim Community Market.

fibre friday: shibori

I took part in a shibori workshop at Port Moody Arts Centre a couple of weekends ago. It was great fun, and introduced me to something totally new which stimulated my fibre lust ..... and we took part ie. the Wee Guy had a go at it too.
For those of you new to the idea of shibori, in a nutshell it's tie-dyed silk. Our instructor, Deanna Welter who had an exhibition in the Plum Gallery of the Arts Centre, introduced to the pleated version which I suppose is nearest to the Arashi method, where areas of resist are introduced by tightly wrapping and scrunching the fabric around a pole. In this example the pole was a wine bottle! I wrapped the silk ribbon while the Wee Guy fed it into my hands. There was enough time to do one each.
He dyed his wrapping using KoolAid, and I got to play with the instructor's heat-stable dyes. The dye process was started off in the microwave with a solution of vinegar and water as a mordant, before letting the fabrics 'stew' for a while prior to rinsing.
The KoolAid dyes resulted in a beautifully pale series of splodges - very delicate. As you can see, the professional dyes resulted in a much stronger 'take' with a very vibrant result.
And if you look closely, yes - it's already being incorporated into a new design!

wordless wednesday: the chunky stuff

prep work for the Blim car-free on Main market coming up on June 20th (Father's Day!).
see the events tab above for more details

inspiration

View up the garden, Micklegarth, originally uploaded by bexybeads.

A beautiful view, a beautiful garden.
So much inspiration.

Fab Fair at Heritage Hall this weekend

See you at the weekend!

Fab Fair alert: bags and bling for all

Me and my baubles will be at Fab Fair this weekend (June 5th and 6th, Heritage Hall on Main Street, Vancouver) for all to see and experience.

.... and what an experience it will be too! I have never, ever sold at a fair which comprises solely of bags, purses and jewelry, hence the 'bags and bling' title.

Spirit Square in Coquitlam

"dill pickle wannabe": wire and fibre brooch

The grand opening of Spirit Square in Coquitlam is taking place this Thursday, with a summer festival atomosphere including entertainment and an artisan craft market showcasing local talent.


Guess who's going to be there as part of the 'local talent'?


Yes, yours truly! See you there - I'll be doing some wire crochet and needle felting in my tent. Come on down for a chat and see how it's done!


PS: map here (now I know where I'm going too!)